This disc was first released in 1999 and, as well as
being a lovely celebration of thanksgiving, is a worthy and worthwhile
tribute to its multi-talented creator, Paul Hillier. I first encountered
Hillier in the early 90s, singing French troubadour songs on the ECM
label, and I have yet to find anything of his less than stimulating.
He is know much associated with Arvo Pärt, originally via the Hilliard
Ensemble and, more recently, as his biographer, but here the net is
cast rather wider.

Many of the tracks chosen for inclusion are performed
by His Majestie's Clerkes, including most of those by William Billings
and his contemporaries. For those not familiar with Billings, he was
perhaps the central figure in the first flowering of a New England
musical tradition that has more recently influenced Henry Cowell (in
his series of Hymns and Fuguing Tunes), John Adams (the clarinet
concerto, Gnarly Buttons, is built around the "shape note" tradition)
and, above all, Charles Ives, albeit often in transmuted form. The revolutionary
"hymn" Chester , included here, was used as one source for William
Schuman's inventive New England Triptych. Another, When Jesus
wept, not included in this collection, has also recently appeared
on Jan Garbarek's last collaboration with the Hilliards (Mnemosyne).

Although these "Yankee psalmodists" provide the bulk
of the material here, we are also transported back to various previous
times (in the guise of Thomas Tallis, Peter Abelard and 12th
century anonymous monastic songs) and forwards to the present day. Howard
Skempton's brief but haunting instrumental is beautifully played by
long-time Hillier associate, Andrew Lawrence-King, and Hillier himself
gives voice to short but moving settings of John Cage and Gertrude Stein,
in the latter case providing the music himself. Add to this Lawrence-King
playing Brigg Fair on his mercurial harp and a life-affirming
hymn from the late 19th century Mount Lebanon collection,
and you have an hour of varied, interesting and always beautifully performed
music which should appeal to listeners in America and beyond. I particularly
urge you to investigate this if you are at all interested in the musical
soil from which Ives and Schuman drew some of their primary inspirations.
The booklet notes are excellently informative and the whole package
(a digipack adorned by a classic Currier and Ives woodcut) is superbly
put together. Far more than just a sampler!

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